


/ 



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SOUTHERN AFFAIRS. 



SPEECH 



HON. HENRY B. BANNING, 



OF OHIO 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



February lo, 1875, 



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WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICl 
1875. 



X Adoo 

iza- 

899 3 



SPEECH 

OF 

HOX. HENIiY B. BANNING 



The House being as in Coinuiittee of the Whole upon tlie rresidtiit's annual 
message — 

Mr. BANNING said : 

Mr. Speaker, after the many able speeches made in Congress upon 
southern affairs it is a delicate matter for me to ask the attention of 
the House to what I may have to say upon the subject. The impor- 
tance of the question under discussion, involving as it does the rights 
and liberty of every American citizen, is my apology. 

Believing in the saying of that fonnder of the Republic who told 
us "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," also in the saying "it 
is better to defend our liberties upon the door-sill than upon the 
hearth-stone," I come to the consideration of this all-important ques- 
tion without any partisan feeling whatever, as a hiunble representa- 
tive of a great constituency, who, without respect to party, at the 
largest meeting held in Cincinnati since the firing upon Fort Sumter 
in 1861, adopted the following resolutions: 

The following resolutions were received with applause and unanimously adopted : 

Whereas it is part of the current public history of the country that on the 4th 
day of January, A. D. 1875, a general of the Army of the United States detailed 
an'armed body of soldiera with orders to enter the legislative hall of the State of 
Louisiana, while the Legislature of said State was engaged in the work of organiza- 
tion, and to compel the withdrawal from said hall of persons claiming membership 
in said body, and who had been admitted to seats and qualified as members, said 
orders being executed by said soldiers, thus interrupting the organization of said 
body, and affording an opportunity to other persons claiming the same seats to enter 
and occupy the same and to organize said Legislature, thus practically determin- 
ing a contest of election ; and whereas a general of the Army has publicly called 
upon the President of the United States to declare a portion of the people outlaws, 
and to grant him authority to try, condemn, and punish them by martial law : 
TherefoVe, 

Resolved, That as citizens of the Republic, invested with the ri^ht and charged 
with the duty of giving earnest attention to public affaiis and pronciuncing dis- 
passionate judgment thereon, we regard these events with abuMi and indignation. 

Resolved, That it is essential to the preservation of free inntitutions in the 
United States that the military power shall at all times be subordinate to the civil 
power ; that the Army shall not be called upon or permitted to perform mere police 
power in any part of the Union ; that the right and the duty of preserving social 
order within the several States shall at all times be recognized as belonging to the 
respective State goveniments, except in the single instance jirovlded by the Federal 
Constitution, which authorizes the General Government to protect the States respect- 
ively "against domestic violence upon the call of the executive when the Legisla- 
ture cannot be convened." 

Resolved, That our judgment of the action of General Sheridan is formed without 
regard to the ti'uth or falsity of the grounds upon which he has sought to justify 
it ; that upon his own statement of the facts it was an unwarranted and violent 
usurpation of power, a violation of the Constitution and of his duty as a citizen 
and as a soldier, and we call upon our fellow-citizens throughout the Union not to 
be misled in the discussion of this grave topic by the recital of the alleged wrong- 
ful and illegal acts of other persons at other times and places, but to judge the 
action of General Sheridan upon its own merits ; that the usurpers of power in all 



periods of the liistory of tlic stru'inli^ l)(t\v<-cn lilierty and (Irsixitism have justified 
themselves by tlie plea tlial tlu> iiuldic safrtv rrniiired tlicir usuipations. 

Resolved, That the call of (iciicial Sh.'iidaii for jiowcr to arrest, try, condemn, 
and punish citizens of Louisiana by mai tial law is a f;rnss insult to the whole peo- 
ple of the country, and deserves signal rebuke from the Government and from the 
people. 

Resolved, That we view with distrust and disapprobation the multiplication of 
military titles, military oftices, and military emoluments, believing that the true 
military ]io\vei- <if tlie iteiiiiblio is, and should be, its citizen soldiery; and that we 
call upi'm our ininieiliate Iteinesentatives in Congress to support the biU recently 
iutrodured pioviilini: for tlu^ al)oiition of the office of Lieutenant-General of the 
Army of tlie United States, with an amendment including all the unnecessary 
military otlicers. 

Resoioed, Tliat a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to our Representatives 
in Congress by the chairman. 

Hon. George Hoadly, one of the ablest lawyers in the country, a 
republican who supported General Grant for the Presidency, pre- 
vented by a business engagement from attending the meeting, wrote 
to the presiding officer this letter : 

CiNCiNNAn, January 14, 18T5. 

Dear Sni: Tour note of the 13th is just at hand and contents noted. 

I regard the AdmiuLstration as havint; been engaged now for three years in a 
conspiracy to deprive the people of Louisiana of their just right to govern them- 
selves ana an effort by force and fraud to sulistitute a State government which has 
never been chosen by that jKojile for tliat of tlieir own selection. So beUe-ving, I 
should, without regard to the ]iavtieular(|uestion wlio tirst called in the military on 
thisoccasion, have been lilad t<i take part in the lueetiu^ you speak of. But busi- 
ness engagements in the supreme court compel me to be in Odunibus on Saturday, 
and you will therefore please accept my sympathj- and excuse my absence. 
Yours, truly, 

GEOEGE HOADLT. 

Hon. George W. C. Johnston. 

Hon. W. S. Groesbeck, wliose national reputation makes his name 
familiar to all, wrote as follows: 

January 14, 1875. 
Dear Sir : I received yesterday your note asking my opinion as to the propriety 
of calling a meeting "to express the sentiments of'our city in regard to the recent 
transactions at New Orleans," and I notice in the papers of to-day that such a 
meeting has been resolved upon and will soon be held. 

I think such a meeting will he very proper, and that it should be so managed as 
that all will feel free to participate iii it. The transactions to which yon refer were 
most extraordinary, and should be promptly noticed by public meetings through- 
out the country. They have no precedent in our past,'and should notlje allowed 
to become a precedent for our future. Bayonets arc out of place in legislative 
halls. 

Very respectfully, 

^Y. S. GKOESBECK. 
Hon. G. W. C. Johnston, Mayor. 

Hon. Job E. Stevenson, my predecessor in this House, and republi- 
can candidate against me last fall, sent the following letter : 

Cincinnati, January 15, 1875. 
Dear Sir: Yours in relation to a proposed meeting of citizens to consider re- 
cent and pending events in Louisiana received. 

It seems to me that sucli a meeting properly assembled and condticted, might do 
good service, and I should bo not unwilling to participate. 
Yours, truly, 

JOB E. STEVENSON. 
Hon. G. "W. C. Johnston, Mayor, Ac 

Governor Allen, in answer to an invitation to be present, wrote : 
State of Ohio, Exkcutjve Dei-art.ment, 

Columbus, January 16, 1875. 
Dear Siu : For official reasons I cannot, as yon request, be with our friends in 
your city tonight. 

Thing's look gloomy, yet I do not dread tlie future. A few of the republican poli- 
ticians may but the republican masses will not stand passively by and see any 



man seok to assiias'' liis tliirst for power in t!ie blood of tlie people. The democ- 
racy, of course, will be tiiie tu itself. 
Your frieiul, 

"Vr. ALLEJT. 
Hon. G. W. C. JonssTox, Mayor of Cincinnati. 

Hon. George H. Pendleton addressed the meeting, and among other 
things said : 

My fellow-citizens, there is order and quiet and, in some sense, peace in Kew 
Orleans to-nigbt. The interest there is inten.se, but it is not turbulent. I rejoice 
that it is so. This conduct is an evidence of wisdom and virtue and good citizen- 
ship. Those men who addressed the meeting in New York and promised that their 
fellow-citizens .should not be goaded into conflict with Federal authority, but that 
they would rely upoa the moral power of their sister States to restore free govern- 
ment in that section of the country, uttered no vain words. Stigmatized by the 
military commander who the day before had assumed command over them as ban- 
ditti ; abused by every Federal officer as cut-throats and assassins ; treated as if 
free govermnent in this country had no rights which Federal power was bound to 
respect ; governed by a power "which confessedly will fall the moment that Fede- 
ral bayonets are taken away, they have, nevertheless, by rare magnanimity, by 
wonderful self-control, thiice-arnied tlnir i|uarrel which was already just. 

I am glad, as I said, thatit is so f(ir thrii sakts, because it is evidence of wisdom 
and virtue. I am glad that it is .sofnrimrsukt s, because it gives no alloy to the sym- 
pathy that we can feel for their private wrongs, andputs no check upon the indig- 
nation and public sentiment for the unparalleled outrages upon public liberty. 
I am glad that it is so for another reason. It shows that all over this country, 
even under themost trying circumstances, the peoijle of the country have accepted 
everywhere the results of the war. It shows that everywhere they have accepted 
the constitutional amendments, and mean to abide by them. It shows that every- 
where they have accepted the doctrine of civil and! political rights of all citizens. 
It shows that after the wave of ci\-il war has passed away all our people every- 
where are coming back to tlie recognition of that peace and order which must be tlie 
concomitant of liberty, and without which there can be no good government. 

The able lawyer and anther Dr. Thnro Wright, addressed the meet- 
ing. From his remarks I read the following extract : 

He was here as a citizen of the United States who did not want to see his coun- 
try a military despotism. He did not want needlessly to find fault with the author- 
ities or indulge in harsh terms concerning their public acts ; but that our rulers 
were 'above criticism no one would venture to assert. He would pray, if he prayed 
at all, "O God, may we not despise our rulers ; " and would also add, "OLord, 
may they not act so that we cannot help despising them." 

Mr. Speaker, this large meeting at Cincinnati, the resolutions 
adopted, the letters and sayings of the distinguished men which I 
have quoted, show the deep-seated indignation of our people, and 
this regardless of party division. The people are shocked at the 
military interference in civil rights, and the sooner, Mr. Speaker, we 
return to the guarantees of the Constitution, the better it will be for 
us and the government of the fathers it is our jjatriotic duty to per- 
petuate. 

I invite the attention of the House to the political situation in 
the South since the close of the war; and permit me, sir, to say 
when the late war began I enlisted and marched to the front, and 
fought through to the end. That end came when with Lee's sur- 
render the South laid down its arms, and our flag waved in triumph 
over every foot of our territory. I was a soldier in war ; I propose to 
be a citizen in peace. When the men of the southern army laid 
down their arms and accepted the situation, I supposed they were to 
be restored to all their rights under the Constitution. Knowing 
their bravery, admiring their gallantry, and the pluck, courage, and 
obstinacy with which for more than four long years they sustained 
their confederacy against superior nirmbers, I did not want to see 
them punished. Nor had I (much as I mourned their loss) any wish 
to revenge with more southern blood the blood of my dead comrades. 



6 

And I prayed God to receive it as a siiffici(!iit atonemeut and ofter- 
ing upon the altar of peace, and make it the sacred cement of an 
everlasting Union of States. I felt toward the South like our heroic 
General Sherman when he made terms of peace with Johnston, 
that we were the conqueroi's and that we could aftord to be gene- 
rous to the men of the South who had staked their all upon the con- 
federacy and lost. 

The armed conflict between the North and the South was war, hon- 
orable war, each side believing itself to be in the right, and carried 
on for years by huge ai-mies and able officers. We called it a rebel- 
lion ; and yet no man dreamed of hanging or shooting a prisoner. 
During its progress the soldiers upon both sides felt a respect for each 
other that in the hour of misfortune amounted to aifection. When 
the confederates laid down theii- arms our soldiers met them with 
smiles and shared with them, as only soldiers can share, their rations 
and their blankets. This feeling was so strong that when the gal- 
lant Sherman dictated terms of surrender they seemed to be terms 
tendered friends, not foes. The home-guard and the politician shrieked 
with anguish. And now, ten jeai-s after, we find the same deadly 
animosity animating the same class, and a bitterness of feeling that 
was not felt by the soldiers amid the roar of cannon upon the field of 
battle. 

Of this we had, I am pained to say, a humiliating illustration upon 
this floor in the last few days. The honorable gentleman from Mas- 
sachusetts, [Mr. Butler,] the leader of the House upon the other side, 
said in response to a charge of hanging a man in New Orleans during 
the war : 

So far from taking offense, I glory in it ; and the trouble has been that I did not 
hang more than 1 did. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, this is the first time, and God send that it may be 
the last, that we are called upon to hear a northern gentleman and 
soldier boast of having been an executioner, and regretting that it 
had not been in his power to hang other men for political oftenses. 
The feeling of the brave soldier on looking back upon the bloody bat- 
tle-fields where he led his columns into fight is one of regret. He has 
pride in his success, but pain over the cost of that success ; but here 
is a boast over the gallows when no great soldierly impulse could 
enter to give it dignity or virtue. 

I should feel some alarm lest a portion of the people at the North 
shared in this feeling, for the remark passed unrebuked from the other 
side of this Chamber, but the late elections that turned mainly on 
this grave question reassures me. 

In the gentleman's own district there seems to have been a revul- 
sion of popular sentiment, and all his brilliant attainments ajid 
powers of speech proved insufficient to retain his valuable services 
upon this floor. While I speak the party of deadly antagonism is 
^oing to pieces, and the legislation of hate, thank God, approaches 
its end. 

The better feelings that animate the soldier seems to have taken 
hold upon thepe()i)le, and now, instead of gloating over the slaughter 
of the past and legislating as if we were in the midst of a bloody 
war, the Congress of the United States is instructed through the late 
elections to ])reach " peace on earth, good will to men." AVhy, sir, if 
by marching South we could call from their narrow beds the molder- 
ing bones of the confederate dead and reanimate in life those we 
destroyed., such march would be made with more enthusiasm by the 



meu of the North than any that animated our soldiers in their cam- 
paigns of the late contlict. . , •, -i 

I believe that with all the abuse and humiliation heaped upon the 
South since that war, their manhood survives the oppression, and the 
same generous impiilse animates their hearts that stirs our own. It 
remains for the Christian statesman to grow fat on the legislation of 
hate and gloat over the cruelties he has through the courage of others 
been able to practice. „ ^ , ■ • i 

Another distinguished gentleman from the same State drew a viyul 
picture of the dangers through which he had passed where as he said : 
I have been here, sir, when the freedom of debate was vindicated only by form- 
ina a hollow square in front of the Speaker's desk while men uttered their senti- 
mtnts here in the House ; when the galleries were bUed with armed men, whose 
threats to silence debate on this floor were audible in any part of this Hall, i had 
hoped, sir, that that day had passed and passed forever. I had hoped that the co n- 
•dition of things which made such a proceeding possible was never to return again. 
Certainly, sir, these were deplorable times and much to be la- 
mented ; but, sii-, I think that bad as ruffianism was, according to the 
gentleman's story, it was a healthier thing than that condition which, 
however pleasant it may have been, gave the country the " Credit Mo- 
belier " the El Paso corruption, the Pacific mail subsidy, and other 
frauds that have gone well-nigh to destroy the faith of the American 
people in their Government. The late war, properly considered, 
wiped out the deadly antagonism that gave birth to the violence the 
gentleman laments. He need fear no return of such. In the next 
Conoress we shall have, it is said, eighty-odd confederate soldiers. I 
can assure my friend that in these eighty members he wiU find not 
only gentlemen, but kind-hearted and generous men, whose impulse 
will be to protect the weak rather than to encourage violence. The 
men who had the courage to fight for the confederacy, now that they 
have given their promise, will have the honor to keep it and stand 
for our liberties and the right. 

With these views I have watched with anxiety the course ot the 
General Government in its treatment of the South. And, sir, it is 
hard to tell whether that treatment has been more stupid than fraud- 
ulent or more fraudulent than stupid. The corruptions that charac- 
terize the political management of the South culminated under a pre- 
tense of protecting the colored people. The political managers have 
been the colored people's deadliest enemy. Organizing these igno- 
rant mixsses into secret associations, they have sent down political 
adventurers to control and direct them, and brought the whole Army 
of the United States to protect their infamous plunder and oppres- 
sion Keeping alive the animosities of the late war, these men have 
sought through an abuse of the word patriotism to perpetuate its 
despotism. The negro race is mainly the unskilled labor ot the 
South. Left to themselves labor and capital would have naturally 
harmonized, stimulated by the wants of the late war that made com- 
mercial reconstruction a necessity. In clothing the negro with tuU 
citizenship and giving him the privileges of the ballot-box we made 
him master of the situation. If he failed in securing safety to him- 
self it was not the fault of the southern white man, but the miscon- 
duct of the political managers under the patronage of the General 
Government. , ,, , i.. • 

It will be observed that in those States where the democracy obtain 
control, such as Maryland, Virginia, North Carohna, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas, we have peace, prosperity, and 
o-ood order. No man is made afraid, and equal political rights are 
extended to all ; while in those States that are under the despotism 



of republican poitileians and the Array anarcliy autl outrage, liand in- 
hand, shock the people of the United States. 

A southern State under control of the Administration, is a state 
where officials plunder -with impunity, protected by the bayonets of 
the regular Army. Take, for instance. South Carolina. The retiring 
gOTernor plundered the State on a taxation that amounted to confis- 
cation, and while the debt was piled up in hopeless bankruptcy, 
there is nothing left to show in retiu'n but the enormous wealth and 
riotous li%ing of shameless officials. Negroes, but lately field hands, 
are made officials because they are negroes. All social restraints are 
swept away. Taxation is but another name for confiscation. To 
illustrate, I give the following statement: 

Taxes and taxable property in South Carolina hifore and since the war. 

The taxable property before the war -R-as §400, 000, 000 

Taxable propei-ty in 1874 170, 000, 000 

Taxes levied before the war 500, 000 

Taxes leviedin 1873 2,700,000 

Legislative expenses before the war 40, 000 

Legislative expenses, 1873 291, 000 

PuDlic printing before the war 5, 000 

Public printing, 1873 , 450,000 

And when the oppressed tax-payer of South Carolina came to 
Washington last winter for relief, he received no encouragement from 
the President, and liis petition to Congress was referred to a committee, 
where it will sleep until adjournment on the 4th of next March. These 
tax-payers were white men and democrats. How different would have 
been their reception and the consideration of their petition had they 
been negroes and republicans I need not stop to say. 

LOUISIANA. 

More than ten years have rolled by since the close of the war. The 
republican party dmiug all this time has had control of the General 
Government and in Lousiana, but has not succeeded in reorganizing 
and reconstructing this State; and why? The happiness, prosi^erity, 
and welfare of the people of Louisiana would be advanced by recon- 
struction and self-government; while both the material and polit- 
ical prosperity of the country would be increased by quiet and proj)er 
self-government in Louisiana. 

During all these ten years the war, which we supposed ended in the 
surrender of the South, has been continued in Louisiana solely for 
the purpose of robbing her helpless people. Kellogg and his follow- 
ers, backed by the regular Army, have been managing the aftairs of 
this unfortunate people, and have so robbed and wronged and have 
so outraged every principle of self-government and civil liberty as 
to cause the deepest indignation among the people of the country, 
without respect to party, against the cruelty and tyranny of the au- 
thorities in power. From the records of Congress I gather the story 
of this unfortunate State to be as follows: 

During the late presidential contest steps were taken to secure the 
vote of Louisiana. It was known it would be largely liberal and 
democratic. To this end a bill was filed and an order oi court pro- 
cured from Judge Durell, since arraigned for impeachment, and his 
resignation accepted by the President while charges were pending 
against him. 

Prior to the issuing of this order of court W. P. Kellogg, acting 
governor of Louisiana, which place he then as now holds by the bay- 



onets of the regular Army, wrote to Attoruey-Goneral Williams the 
following, aud I quote his words : 

The supreme court is knoTvn to sj-mpatliize "tvitli us ami has incidentally passed 
upon the legality of our returning board. 

And again he says in the same communication : 

Our returning board being held as the legal returning board, and in nowise 
affected by the promulgation of the recent election bill, may make the return 
required by law, which ^vill show the republican State ticket dected aud a repub- 
lican majority in the Legislatiu-e. 

But to enforce his wicked proceedings it was necessary to have the 
support of Government bayonets, therefore this man concludes his 
communication with the following significant paragrajjh : 

I therefore respectfully suggest that General Emory, who I think appreciate* 
the necessity and sj-mpathizes with the rejiublican party here, be instructed to 
comply with any requisition that the United States courts may make upon him in 
sapport of its mandates and to preserve the peace. 

To this demand the Attorney-General, George H. Williams, makes 
the following prompt response : 

Department of Justice, December 3, 1S72. 
S. B. Packard, Esq., 

United States Marshal, New Orleans, Louisiana : 
Ton are to enforce the decrees and mandates of the United States court no 
matter by whom resisted, and General Emory will furnish you with all necessary 
troops for that pm-pose. 

GEOPvGE H. "SVILLIAMS, 

Attorney-General. 

Thus a bill in chancery was brought before a corrupt judge " known 
to sympathize," and whose decision was known in advance, and the 
necessary order obtained, which the troops were called in to enforce ; 
aud with what eftect General Casey, collector at New Orleans, tele- 
graphs to the President, as follows : 

Xew Orleans, December 6, 1872. 
President Grant : 

Marshal Packard took possession of the State-honse this morning at an early hour 
with military posse, in obedience to a mandate of the circuit court, to prevent illegal 
assemblage of persons under guise of authority of "Warmoth's returning board in 
violation of injunction of circuit court. Decree of court just rendered declares 
"Warmoth's returning board illegal, and orders the returns of the election forthwith 
to be placed before the legal board. The board will probably soon declare the 
result of the election of the officers of the State Legislature, which will meet in the 
State-honse with the protection of court. The decree was sweeping in its pro- 
visions, and if enforced will save the republican Legislature and State govemnieut, 
and check "Warmoth in his usurpations. 

JAiVIES F. CASEY. 

The troops, however, do not seem to have acted with sufiQ.cient 
promptness, aud General Casey agaiu flies to the telegraph : 

New Orleans, December 11, 1872. 
President Grant : 

Parties interested in the success of the democratic party, particularly the New 
Orleans Times, are making desperate efforts to array thepeople against us. Old 
citizens are dragooned into an opposition they do not feel, and pressure is hourly 
growing ; our members are poor and our adversaries are rich, and offers are made 
that are difficult for them to withstand. There is danger that they will break our 
quorum. The delay ia placing the troops at the disposal of Governor Pinchback 
in accordance with joint resolution of Monday is disheartening our friends and 
cheering our enemies. If requisition of Le^slature is complied with all difficulty will 
be dissipated, the party saved, and everytliing go on smoothly. If this is done, the 
tide will be turned at once in our favor. The real underlying sentiment is with us, 
ifjit can be encouraged. Governor Pinchback acting with great discretion, as is 
the Legislature, and they will so continue, 

JAMES F. CASEY, 

Collector. 



10 

In the mean time the good citizens of Louisiana, amazed and dis- 
heartened at these arbitrary and despotic proceedings, selected a 
committee of one hundred of their ablest and their best-known citi- 
zens to proceed to Washington and respectfully petition the Presi- 
dent for relief. Before the committee could leave New Orleans to 
execute the humble right of petition, it was met by the following 
shameful order fi-oni Attoruey-Geueral Williams, that far exceeds any 
ever issued by a European despot : 

Department of Justice, December 13, 1^72. 
Hon. John McEnf.rt, 

Nevj Orleans: 

Tonr visit with a hundred citizens will be unavailing so far as the President is 
concerned. His decision is made and will not be changed, and the sooner it is ac- 
quiesced in the sooner good order and peace will be restored. 

GEOKGE H. WILLIAMS, 

A ttorney- Geiural. 

The usurpation was accomplished ; and from that day to this the 
people of Louisiana have been plundered and oppressed by these 
creatures of the Administration, over whom they could have no con- 
trol. The ballot-box was denied them. They could not punish ; the 
courts were closed against them; and, bound hand and foot, they 
have been tlie helpless victims of the foulest oppression. If any one 
doubts, let him read the speech of Senator Caupentek in the Senate 
last session. 

The Kellogg government came in with a Gatling gun in the hands 
of United States oiMcials, sustained by the bayonets of the regular 
Ai-my in the enforcement of an illegal order from a corrupt and in- 
competent court. It was di-iven out last fall before the frown of an 
exasperated and desiderate people. At that time we are told that even 
Collector Casey, who assisted in inaugurating Kellogg, turned upon 
him and besought the President not to interfere ; while the very 
negroes themselves cheered the victors as they marched in triumph 
to the State-house. Before this march of an indignant people the 
usurjiers, possessed of the guilty feeling that makes cowards of all 
men, fled in dismay. It was claimed that they had a majority at the 
back of the people of Louisiana. This majority, if it existed, as they 
claim, was thoroughly organized and well armed, and yet their lead- 
ers, without striking a blow worthy the name, hid themselves from 
sight, while crying piteously to the Executive at Washington for help. 
Then came an event that illustrates with striking force two facts. The 
first is the conservative feeling that animates this sorely tried and 
down-trodden people. The other, the fearfully despotic power that has 
grown up since the war at this national capital. A single officer, with 
less than a regiment, by an order of a few words, restored the usurp- 
ing government and caused the indignant citizens to quietly lay 
down their arms and retire to their homes. There is no despotism in 
Europe that can give an instance of power such as this. I know, sir, 
it is alleged that a fear of the General Government controlled the 
people. And I miglit say that such argument only proves what I 
assert. Why should our Government be feared by a people it was 
created to protect ? Have we come to that pass that our Union is 
held together by the Army? If so, and fear was the element that 
caused the oppressed to submit in silence, it is not Louisiana alone, 
but every State in the Union that is threatened with the loss of its 
liberties. 

Following this extraordinary chain of events came a struggle 
through the ballot-box. I will not say this people had the prom- 
ise of a fair election : but, animated by a hope that they might 



11 

ie heard tlirougli tliat which makes the very foundation of our 
political structure, they appealed to the ballot-box. We may be 
sure that the men who would seize and hold by violence the powers 
of government would not hesitate to seciire that usurpation through 
fraud. The so-called count of votes, the action of the returning 
board, was iu accordance with all that had preceded in this history 
of outrage. Under pretext of intimidation of voters, that never 
existed iu fact, enough conservative members of the Legislature were 
thrown out to insiu'e a majority for the usurpers by a board pro- 
nounced by the republican committee sent by Congress to investigate 
the matter to have been illegal. And now, sir, the fraud ends and 
the violence begins again. So infamous was the outrage contem- 
plated, that it was necessary to select a man who could carry it 
through without hesitation and with unscrupulous energy of piu-- 
pose. What they needed is what is known as a " mere soldier." Gen- 
-eral McDowell was iu command of the department, as gallant a sol- 
dier as ever blessed a country with his courage ; he is no less the 
citizen. Possessed of fine abilities and a rare culture, he could not 
be called upon for work such as this. His subordinate. General 
Emory, had already shrunk from the duties imposed ui)on him. 
General Sheridan was the man selected. 

Not daring to assert their work in advance, he went South under a 
pretense of relaxation from duty. Arriving in New Orleans at the 
moment when the Legislature was about to assemble, he struck the 
opportune moment and at once assumed command. We had had 
Gatling guns and bayonets under the control of custom-house officers. 
We had seen the regular Army dispersing an armed people imder a 
pretext of re-establishing law and order, but uow, for the fii'st time, 
the second officer of the Army of the United States orders that Army 
into a legislative hall of a sovereign State, not for the purpose of 
preventing bloodshed or even preserving order, but to settle a mere 
political question by the bayonet ; not for the purpose of driving 
that Legislature out, but for the purpose of settling with the 
Ijayouet who might sit as members of that Legislature and who 
might not. 

The feelings that animated this soldier on approaching the scene 
of his action may be gathered from his first dispatch. He had 
scarcely lauded at New Orleans before he telegraphed to his chief at 
Washington the following extraordinary indictment of a people he 
was to govern : 

Heaiiquarters Division of the Missouri, 
Kevj Orleans, January 4, 1875. (Received 4—11.45 p. m.) 
W. W. Belknap, 

Secretary of War, Washington, D. O. : 

It is with deep regret that I have to announce to you the existence in this State 
■of a spirit of defiance to all lawful authority and 'an insecurity of life which is 
hardly realized by the General Government or the country at large. The lives of 
citizens have become so jeopardized, that unless something is done to give protection 
to the people all security usually afforded by law will be overridden. Defiance to 
the laws and the murder of individuals seem to be looked upon by the community 
here from a stand-point which gives Impunity to all who choose to indulge in either, 
and the civil government appears powerless to punish or even arrest. I have to- 
night assumed control over the Department of the Gulf. 

P. H. SHEKIDAN, 
Lieutenant- General United States Army. 

On the very day of this dispatch armed soldiers of his command 
invaded the halls of legislation and threw out by force enough con- 
servative members to leave the conspirators in possession of the 
government. The day following he again telegraphed a dispatch that 



12 

indicates the " mere soldier " is yet animated by feeliiigs that pos- 
sessed him before he had even a kDOwledge of affairs he was sent to 
control. Burke said "that he wonld not know how to frame an 
indictment against an entire people." The "mere soldier " gives hiin 
the form of such indictment in the following dispatch : 

[Telegi'am dated headquarters Military DivisioB of the Missouri, Xew Orleans, 

Louisiana, January 5, 1875. Received January 5.1 
W. W. Belknap, 

Secretary of War, Washington, D. O. : 
I think that the terrorism now existing in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas 
could be entirely removed and confidence and fair dealing established by the arrest 
and trial of the ringleaders of the armed "White Leagues. If Congress would pass 
a bill declaring thein banditti, they could be tried by a military commission. The 
ringleaders of this banditti, who murdered men here on the 14th of last September, 
and also more recently at Vicksburgh, Mississippi, should, in iustice to law and order 
and thepeace and prosperity of this southern part of the ccunitry. In- ii\nii«shed. It 
is possible that if the President would issufe a proclaiuatidii (i(<laiiiin tlniu ban- 
lUttino further action need be taken except that which \\<iiiia dmdhr ujion me. 

P. H. fSllKKIlJAN, 
Lieutenant- General United Utates Army. 
You will observe that in this dispatch he sweeps in the entire peo- 
ple. And at the end of ten years so-called reconstruction linds no 
remedy for the disorders charged than those gained through martial 
law, drum-head courts, and sudden executions. This is the duty that 
he proposes should be devolved upon him through a proclamation of 
the President. 

The man who would have made such a jiroposition as this when 
Lee surrendered, at the end of a cruel and bloody war, would have 
been regarded with horror by the entire people of the United States. 
A war of hate has produced more evil than a war of arms. At the 
end of ten years of what should have been peace we have this bloody 
proposition made by the second officer of the Army of the United 
States, and this, sir, receives the sanction of his masters at Washing- 
ton. In response the Secretary of Yv^ar telegraphs as follows : 

Wak Department, 
Washington City, January 6, 1875. 
General P. H. Sheridan, 

New Orleans, Louisiana: 
Tour telegrams all received. The President and all of us have full confidence, 
aud thoroughly approve yoiu' course. 

^ ■* '^ WM. W. BELKXAP, 

Secretary of War. 

Fearing this telegram may be considered hasty, later in the same 
day the Secretary reiterates it, as follows : 

War Departjient, 
Washington, January 6, 1875. 
General P. H. Sheridan, 

New Orleans, Louisiana : 
I telegraphed you hastily to-day, answering your dispatch. You seem to fear 
that wehad been misled by biased'^ or partial statements of your acts. Be assured 
that the President and Cabinet confide in your wisdom, and rest in the belief that 
all acts of yours have been and will be judicious. This I intended to say in my 
brief telegram. WM. W. BELKNAP, 

Secretary of War. 

Now, sir, since when in the hi.story of our Republic has the inter- 
ference of the " mere soldier" in om- civil affairs become a necessity ? 
In a war with a foreign power I can readily understand that the 
Army is from sheer necessity a mere "machine," but it is in civil dif- 
ferences that the soldier disappears in the citizen. We have been 
told in Europe, in like cases, " that tyranny ceases when the bay- 



13 

ouet tliiuks." Eegardless of this great lesson we now find our- 
selves called upon to recognize the " mere soldier." Sir, it were bet- 
ter for us to suffer from the assassination i^ictured by this general 
and all the evils that come of a disorganized political and social con- 
dition (for they will in time correct themselves) than to build up in 
our midst that blind military power that has been through all ages 
the fittest tool of despotism. The " mere soldier," sir, is not onlj- 
•foreign to our traditions but he is fatal to our liberties. Under the 
name of law and order through vsuch instruments the most fearful 
crimes have been perpetrated against law and order. The people of 
Louisiana are no aliens, and in this they become the people of the 
United States. I speak not only in behalf of their i>rivileges, but 
that of my own and of every citizen of the Republic. 

We cannot disturb one stone in the great structure of civil and 
political liberty without weakening the foiindation. We cannot 
employ the armed man, who has been educated and trained to blind 
obedience, without taking the very key-stone from tlie arch. This 
is not punishment in Louisiana, it is ruin to us all. The same 
authority and blind obedience that sent a file of soldiers into the 
Legislature of L'^uisiana, can send an armed force into this Hall and 
in the name of law and order wipe out the last vestige of consti- 
tutional liberty. And were this done we would find the same men on 
this floor and throughout the country deuouucing us for any remon- 
strance or resistance that we might make. 

It is said that history repeats itself, which means that human 
nature is the same throughout all time. The factious supporters of 
despotism in Europe find their counterpart here. From them we 
appeal to the people and the Constitution. I thank God that the 
late elections indicate knowledge, firmness, and courage in our court 
of appeal. 



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